


Happy

by ToxicLatteHottie (Aya_Chi007)



Category: The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals - Team StarKid
Genre: Break Up, Divorce, F/M, Heartbreak, Infidelity, Sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-23
Updated: 2019-07-23
Packaged: 2020-07-12 07:03:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19942144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aya_Chi007/pseuds/ToxicLatteHottie
Summary: I want you to be happy and to be honest, I want to be happy again too.





	Happy

There’s pictures everywhere in their small house. Christmas pictures, wedding pictures, engagement pictures, pictures from their high school days. Sam didn’t know it was still possible to get pictures developed. Everything was digital nowadays. It was almost impossible to find anything tangible.

He picks up the Polaroid sitting in the frame of a prom photo. He knows without glancing at the date written on the back that it’s from high school. Charlotte’s curly hair is pulled back from her face, her head tilted back as she laughs. In the picture, Sam looks at her like she’s the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen. He still feels that way. He takes the Polaroid with him and sets it on top of the shirts he has folded and stacked inside a cardboard box. 

They’re not in high school anymore though.

It’s been a long time coming. Counseling had been Charlotte’s last effort to try to save their marriage. Sam had wanted it to work, but counseling didn’t change finding used condoms in the bathroom trash or occasionally finding a tie shoved under one of the pillows.

At first, Sam felt like revenge was the best course of action, but every hookup left him empty. He started avoiding Charlotte and eventually the house all together. It went on for  _ months _ before Charlotte commented on him being distant. He tried to turn it around, but every time he was around Charlotte, every smile, every laugh seemed  _ fake _ . It hurt.

Counseling didn’t change anything. The pillows in their room smelled like cheap cologne and it physically  _ hurt  _ to be in his own bed. He started hanging out at the local coffee shop, Beanie’s, just to have an excuse not to go home. Not that it felt like a home anymore.

That’s when he met Zoey. She was a confidant, listening to Sam spill all his woes about his crumbling marriage and would give him free pastries. She was clever, enrolled in the local community college so she could save up to go to a bigger school. They talked about the last touring production that came to the Starlite and how they both saw it alone because they didn’t have anyone to go with.

Sam couldn’t remember the last time he laughed like that.

One night, after he left Beanie’s, he was about to pull into the driveway of the house, when he saw the front door open. It was one of Charlotte’s coworkers, Ted, still buttoning his shirt. Charlotte was in a robe, beaming as she kissed Ted goodbye. He could see her mouth move to form the words  _ last time _ and the way Ted rolled his eyes and laughed, like it was all a joke.

Sam didn’t go home that night.

It was about a week later when he finally broke. He was off work, but didn’t want to be at home, couldn’t stand the idea of being in the house. He was sitting on a bench in the park, staring blankly at the pigeons. A soft  _ Sam, you okay? _ reached him. He looked up to see Zoey, out of her Beanie’s uniform for the first time, looking at him in concern. It was then he finally felt his stinging eyes and tears sliding down his face.

He ended up in her little apartment, his hands curled around a mug of tea. Zoey sat next to him on the floor. The silence stretched for moments before she finally asked the question that put things in perspective for Sam.

_ If neither of you are happy, why are you staying? _

Sam stuttered through an excuse about not having anywhere to go. Zoey offered for him to stay with her, getting a surprised  _ you’d be okay with that? _ from him. It takes a few moments, but then Zoey’s lifted the mug out of his hands, setting it on the coffee table. Sam felt confused until she cupped his face and pulled him into a kiss. It set a fire in his chest and Sam can’t remember the last time he felt like that.

Sam sighs as he walks back into the house. The couple boxes of his possessions are in the backseat of his car. He goes into the kitchen where the letter he wrote is drying. Swallowing heavily, he picks it up to reread what he wrote.

_ Dear Charlotte, _

_ You are one of the most amazing people I’ve ever met. You’ve made the time from when we graduated to just a couple years ago feel like a dream. But, the past couple years haven’t felt the same. I’ve always told you I’d do whatever I could to make you happy and I feel like being with me isn’t making you happy anymore. _

_ I know about Ted. I’m not angry, I’m just sorry it came down to you being unsatisfied and unable to tell me. I did some things out of spite after I first found out and I hope you can forgive me for those. I’ve packed my things. I’m leaving. _

_ I want you to be happy and to be honest, I want to be happy again too.  _

_ Love you, but not in the same as I used to, _ _   
_ _ Sam _

Blinking back tears, Sam slowly slides his wedding ring off. He wonders how long it will take the tan lines to go away. Carefully, he folds the letter, sliding his ring inside of it, before slipping it inside the envelope with  _ Charlotte  _ written across it.

Once the envelope is sealed, he pulls out his car keys. It takes a few moments before he’s able to get the house key off his key ring. He sets it on the counter by the envelope.

On the way out of the house, he has to pass all of their pictures, their history, back when they were happy and in love and thought they could take on anything. He opens the door, twisting the lock so it will stay locked when he leaves, as he drinks in the view of the house one last time.

Sam steps out on the front step, closing the door behind him.


End file.
